IBTTA Releases Press Statement on the Launch of the Be Safe Together Safety Pledge.
This below statement was originally released as a press release. View or download the full release in our Press Releases section. For more information, contact Tanya Sheres.
As National Distracted Driving Awareness Month concludes in the United States, the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) today launched its 2026 Be Safe Together Safety Pledge, a global call to action inviting organizations, industry leaders, drivers and the public to commit to safer behaviors and shared responsibility to reduce distraction-related crashes.
The pledge anchors “Put Your Mind in Drive,” the 2026 focus of IBTTA’s Be Safe Together campaign, emphasizing both individual responsibility and system-level solutions to improve safety outcomes.
Distracted driving is often framed as a phone problem. IBTTA’s new pledge recognizes a broader challenge: attention itself. At a time when road traffic crashes claim approximately 1.19 million lives each year worldwide and remain the leading cause of death for young people ages 5 to 29, the pledge calls for renewed focus on the human behaviors — including distraction and inattention — that contribute to preventable tragedies on the world’s roads. This reflects a Safe System mindset: human mistakes are inevitable, but systems, policies and operations can work together to reduce risk and prevent serious injuries and fatalities.
“Safety starts with attention,” said Ferzan Ahmed, executive director of the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission, first vice president of the IBTTA Board and co-chair of IBTTA’s Roadway Safety Steering Committee. “This pledge reflects both a commitment to safer choices and the role tolling can play in advancing road safety. U.S. tolling operators process 10 billion transactions a year, generate $25 billion in revenue, and communicate with millions of drivers every day. That scale gives our industry both an opportunity and a responsibility to help drive safer outcomes.”
The pledge invites participants to commit to actions such as:
- Staying focused and distraction-free behind the wheel
- Supporting policies, technologies and operational practices that improve roadway safety
- Sharing best practices and proven strategies across the transportation community
- Advancing a culture where safety is a shared responsibility
The pledge launch also marks the start of a broader campaign leading into IBTTA’s 3rd Annual Global Road Safety Week, June 22-26, 2026, which will feature new distracted driving case studies developed by IBTTA member organizations, along with daily programming bringing together voices from across the safety ecosystem to share practical, real-world solutions.
The campaign builds on momentum from 2025 Global Road Safety Week, which united more than 65 IBTTA member organizations, alongside partners across the United States and internationally, reaching nearly 1 million people worldwide through coordinated safety messaging and public engagement.
“Distraction is a human factor, but preventing tragedy is a systems challenge,” said Mark Chung, IBTTA executive director and CEO. “Safer outcomes depend on combining behavior, operations, infrastructure and proven countermeasures to reduce risk. That is the practical foundation behind this campaign.”
Individuals and organizations can take the pledge and learn more at BeSafeTogether.org.